Today's Movie: Casino Jack

Casino Jack was released in 2010, and it tells the story of the lead-up-to and eventual fall of former Washington D.C. lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Directed by George Hinkenlooper (who died before the film's release) the movie stars Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Jon Lovitz, Kelly Preston. and Rachelle Lefevre.

For anyone already familiar with the story, this is a comedic-dramatization of events. One of the problems that sometimes arises when making a Hollywood version of a story like that of Abramoff is that there is no good guy to root for. While Spacey (his own future scandals aside) plays Abramoff as likeable as possible, everyone related to this story is at fault. The lobbyist, the Senators who take money from the lobbyist, the people paying the lobbyists to sway the Senator's vote in their favor... it's a story of fraud, greed and corruption and leads to the movie being a bit of a mess tonally. That being said, I do like the film overall. I think that the acting is pretty solid throughout, and I'm a bit of a sucker for true crime stories. It's also not a particularly long movie, only about 1hr 45mins, but it packs a lot into that time and keeps the story moving. 

Casino Jack wasn't a critical or box-office hit but, I think there is enough good stuff in the film to make it worthwhile. 

I give it a 3 out of 5.

Crazy on the Outside: Is It Really That Bad?

2010's comedy-drama Crazy on the Outside isn't a very well regarded movie, currently sitting at a whole 8% on 'Rotten Tomatoes', but is it really that bad?

Tim Allen stars in the film and I personally think it's one of his better performances. I realize that's not saying much as Allen isn't know for being in any cinematic masterpieces, but there are a few moments that are legitimately funny. Also in the film are Sigourney Weaver, Ray Liotta, J.K. Simmons, Kelsey Grammer, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Julie Bowen... So, there is a halfway decent cast that makes it worth watching.

The movie is about a recently released convict named Thomas Zelda (played by Tim Allen) who quickly realizes, as the title would suggest, that life outside of prison can be crazy. Thomas is determined to turn his life around and restart his fathers old painting business but comes across his share of obstacles along the way. His sister Viki (played by Sigourney Weaver) keeps telling little white-lies that makes things harder than they should be, his parole officer and eventual love interest Angela (played by Jeanne Tripplehorn) thinks he's just another ex-con that she can't trust, Thomas' old crime partner Gray (played by Ray Liotta) wants him to get back into what caused him to go to prison in the first place, etc. It's one of those everything that can go wrong does plots but it's not terrible. 

Overall, this one isn't as bad as it's reputation. It's not fantastic but, it's watchable and I got a few laughs out of it. 

I give this one a 2 out of 5.

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Western Wednesday: 6 Guns

It's another 'Western Wednesday' and this week's film is 2010's 6 Guns.

The plot to this one is pretty basic:

The movie is about a gang of murderous outlaws lead by Lee Horn (played by Geoff Meed) who seeks out a former sheriff named Will Stevens who killed his father. Upon finding him, the gang learns that Will has settled down and started a family. So, as revenge, Horn and his gang kills Will and his two sons, and rapes his wife Selina (played by Sage Mears). Of course Selina wants revenge and when bounty hunter Frank Allison (played by Barry Van Dyke) she sees her opportunity. Selina convinces Frank to teach her how to shoot a gun and, eventually, when Lee Horn's gang returns to town Selina gets her revenge with Franks help. There isn't much more to it than that.

Overall, this one is a slightly below average Western. Not terrible, but not great. The acting is ok with Barry Van Dyke giving the best performance. If you're a huge Western fan then you might want to check it out, but I wouldn't recommend it otherwise.

I give this one a 2 out of 5.

Have a suggestion for a 'Western Wednesday'?

Leave it in the comments below, and be sure to check out some of these past 'Western Wednesday reviews:

Appaloosa
The Man from Utah
Young Guns 
The Big Trail

Tangled (2010)

I had recently gone to see Disney's newest film Moana (you can check out my review of that film by clicking here). Afterwards, I got into a conversation about Disney's other computer-animated films and realized I hadn't seen 2010's Tangled since it was in the theaters, so I decided to re-watch it.

Walt Disney Animation Studios had previously released a few computer-animated feature films like 2005's Chicken Little and 2008's Bolt, but this was a cut above. 

The plot isn't anything mind blowing: A magical golden flower with the power to reverse aging, and heal illness and injury, etc. is used to heal a sick Queen and, soon afterwards, the Queen gives birth to Princess Rapunzel. But it isn't long before Rapunzel is kidnapped by an old woman named Gothel (voiced by Donna Murphy) who had been using the flower to temporarily regain her youth and has discovered that Rapunzel's hair has the flower's same magical properties. The only problem is that if Rapunzel's hair is cut, it loses it's healing powers, so Gothel keeps her locked away in a tower in the forest. However, as Rapunzel grows up, she eventually wants to leave the tower and see the world a little bit, particularly the lanterns that the whole kingdom releases into the air once a year on Rapunzel's birthday. Gothel, of course, wants to keep Rapunzel's magic hair all for herself and doesn't allow her leave the tower. Eventually, a thief named Flynn Ryder (voiced by Zachary Levi) who is on the run from both the authorities, as well as, two other thieves that he double-crossed ends up finding the tower. From there, the rest of the film pretty much plays out as you'd expect. Flynn and Rapunzel have a wild adventure, and while being pursued by Gothel, and the Kingdoms soldiers, and the two other thieves, they fall in love and eventually live happily ever after.

This is Disney's bread and butter, as Tangled is a film very much in their classic fairy tale formula: There's a princess, an evil old woman, a fall-in-love in just a couple of days love story, an animal sidekick, the songs are good, the animation is good etc. So, it could've easily been a forgettable, paint-by-numbers family movie. However, there are things that do set this apart from many other movies with similar plots. It's entertaining all the way through with some really funny moments along the way, Rapunzel's pet chameleon Pascal in particular that provides quite a few laughs. The voice-acting of Zachary Levi and Donna Murphy is solid, but it's Mandy Moore that really stands out as the voice of Rapunzel and brings that character to life. Overall, It's not my all-time favorite Disney movie but, there's a lot to like about it and it is thoroughly enjoyable.

I give this one a 4 out of 5.

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